The holiday season is quickly approaching, so eCommerce businesses are about to experience their busiest time of year. But the winter holidays aren’t without their struggles. Many online retailers struggle to take full advantage of winter shopping sprees because they don’t have an effective Black Friday eCommerce strategy. This leaves them prone to being overwhelmed during the most crucial point of the year. Follow our Black Friday eCommerce tactics to boost your sales this holiday season.
What is a Black Friday eCommerce Strategy?
Before we can jump into specific tactics you can implement in your business, we need to define a Black Friday eCommerce strategy. A Black Friday eCommerce strategy is a complete plan to serve customers on Black Friday effectively. It provides businesses with a roadmap to navigate one of the most stressful times of the year. Your Black Friday eCommerce strategy should consider every step of the customer journey, from advertising to completing a purchase. This includes marketing campaigns, the promotions you’ll offer, and even your customer support strategy.
5 Black Friday eCommerce Tactics You Should Try
Offer Several Shipping Options
It is important always to offer several shipping options for your customers to choose from at checkout. Being able to choose their preferred shipping method is a deal breaker for a lot of shoppers. Remember that different demographics will prefer different shipping methods. Focus on the shipping options that would most appeal to your audience. For example, people ordering luxury goods might also appreciate expedited shipping options.
A recent trend in consumer shopping behaviors shows that many shoppers prefer the cheapest shipping services available. Bonus points if you’re able to offer free shipping! Some online retailers have even raised the price of their products to offset the cost of shipping and offer customers free shipping.
Settle on a Sale Style Early
It is smart to decide what kind of sale your company wants to offer a few months in advance. Companies tend to use two main sales styles during the winter holidays: bundles and sitewide sales. Bundles are a sale tactic where several related products are all sold in one large group. The price of the entire bundle is generally lower than purchasing each of the products individually. This is a fantastic incentive to encourage customers to make larger purchases than they normally would. Bundles work best with companies that offer products normally bought in high volume. For example, fashion companies can sell bundles of clothes based on style, season, or color.
Sitewide sales are discounts applied to an entire order after it has been placed. In most scenarios, a company’s product can have this discount applied to it. For example, 35% off all orders over $200 would be a sitewide discount. The primary goal of sitewide sales is to raise the average order value (AOV) by encouraging customers to make larger purchases. Sitewide sales work best for companies where individual products tend to have larger price tags.
Pay Close Attention to Your Inventory
One major difficulty online retailers face during the winter holidays is maintaining enough inventory without running a surplus. This is especially true for smaller eCommerce businesses that need to mind spending. Keeping too many products in your warehouse can lose your business money, but not having enough inventory means you’ll miss a massive opportunity. Prepare your warehouse for the holiday season early by forecasting the demand your company will receive. Look at your past holiday trends to understand how much business you should expect. Additionally, you might consider planning a reorder point to ensure you have enough inventory available.
Optimize Your Holiday SEO Efforts
Search engine optimization is an important part of your business’s online presence at any point in the year, but the holidays offer a special opportunity. Creating a page discussing anything your company is doing to celebrate the new year can generate excitement and bring organic traffic to your website. Some websites even run a countdown to Black Friday to engage with their audience.
You should also take this time to fortify your website. Ensure that your website runs quickly and can handle the large influx of visitors it will receive. Remember that many consumers will be shopping from their phones this year. Take some time to ensure your website is optimized for mobile users to increase your conversion rate.
Partner with Influencers
Holiday shopping can be stressful, and many people struggle to find a gift idea for all of their loved ones. This is why many online consumers turn to influencers for holiday gift ideas. By partnering with relevant influencers, you can earn great attention from new potential customers. Additionally, influencers tend to have loyal audiences that take their product reviews and recommendations seriously. This means that influencer partnerships tend to convert into more sales than traditional digital marketing methods.
